For my country, and for all those families who lost a loved one in Afghanistan, I weep. “A total U.S. pullout, coupled with the return of the Taliban, Haqqanis, and al-Qaeda, would be a huge win for our most deadly enemies. Obama’s apathy strikes me as scandalous, if not criminal.” Obama’s scandalous Afghan exit strategy

““Understanding Hamas/Hezbollah as social movements that are progressive, that are on the left, that are part of a global left, is extremely important,“ proclaimed leftist Columbia University visiting professor Judith Butler, who is also an executive member of the Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace in the United States and The Jenin Theatre in Palestine.” The Leftist Enablers of Hezbollah and Hamas

It seems that the Republicans are taking the biggest hit, but here’s this: “At the same time, however, there is bad news for the Left — bad news that will take a bit longer to work its way through the body politic because it goes more to the general world view of our citizens than it does the winners and losers of any given political fight. Simply put, across two budget/debt-ceiling crises (2011 and 2013), and with the corresponding rollout of Obamacare, millions of even apolitical Americans are learning three truths about government that will hurt the Left in the long run.” Big Government has Damaged Its Brand

It will be interesting to see how Rep. Sinema positions herself in next year’s election. “But the story no one is writing, or taking polls about, is red state Democrats. They are the ones who will actually be asking voters to reelect them. They will have to explain their votes for Obamacare!” How about a Poll about Red State Democrats?

Fools. “Nothing is easier for people with degrees to imagine than that they know better than the poor and uneducated. But, as someone once said, “A fool can put on his coat better than a wise man can put it on for him.” “The work-hour-limiting policies of the Left give the poor fewer options.”” A Lesson for the Busybodies

We’ve got three more years of this. “President Barack Obama is like a novice flier thrust into the cockpit of a 747. He’s pushing buttons, flipping switches and radioing air traffic control, but nothing’s happening. The plane is just slowly descending on its own, and while it may or may not crash, it at least doesn’t appear to be headed to any particularly useful destination.” Obama’s Crisis of Credibility

When enough of our entrepreneurs say enough, then maybe things will change. But until then… we’re stuck. “You see, liberals are not guilty for destroying this country. I am guilty for accepting their agenda and pushing forward even in the face of more people that choose to produce nothing… yet consume everything.” ‘I am the guilty man’

If you’re interested in learning about technology and website development like I am, this is an interesting read. “Finally, as the engineers rolled the platform back to the hangar for retooling, there was no hiding the fact that this was indeed a software failure, not just a set of normal launch “glitches” (to use the press’s word du jour).” No Good Excuses Exist for the Failure of Obamacare’s Expensive Website

This man is funny and makes sense—all without the assistance of a teleprompter. Maybe that’s why so many want to destroy him. “Great strategy, hecklers. It’s not quite as bad as turning the National Parks Service into shock troops against World War II veterans, but it’s not all that far off, either.” Cruz to hecklers: I’ve taken more questions today than Obama has all year

WAKE UP!!!! “In May 2012, the national debt started growing faster than GDP, which means we are borrowing at a faster rate than we produce.” Oh, and By the Way, We’re Broke

If they had only taken time to get to know us… “I think ABC has been reading Think Progress and Media Matters too much, because as with most of the mainstream media, ABC can’t figure out why the Tea Party is not toeing the Wall Street and big business line on Obamacare and the debt ceiling.” ABC Finally Figures Out Tea Party Not Wall Street

Why not? It’s working so far. “Do they honestly think that if they just keep throwing around words like “unprecedented” and “unparalleled” in discussing their feelings about transparency, that it will somehow magically make it true — or do they just not care? Because the only thing “unprecedented” about this administration in regards to transparency are their aggressive efforts to clamp down on it.” Most Transparent Administration Evah Feeling a Little Defensive after Damning Report

Just a teeny, tiny bit of hope rising out of the “who shut down the government” debacle. “To reiterate, though: None of this means the GOP’s going to lose seats next year in the midterms. All I’d add to Nate Silver’s piece today making that same point is that, as noted last night, the last time Republicans were below 40 percent on the generic ballot in a WSJ/NBC poll was October 2009. A year later, thanks to ObamaCare, they crushed Democrats in November to take back the House. Parties can have bad spells and then recover almost overnight depending on events. The lesson from the poll isn’t that “WE’RE DOOMED!!1!”, it’s that we’re doing some political damage to ourselves here and getting nothing major for it on the Hill. Ted Cruz on the WSJ/NBC poll: “That’s not reflective of where this country is”

Like the good Dr. Ben Carson has stated: “Its slavery.” “Commandeering the resources of major federal departments, particularly the Department of Health and Human Services and the IRS, the administration and its allies in Congress have created numerous federal bureaus, commissions and programs and have issued thousands of pages of rules, regulations, guidelines and directives, all reinforced by unprecedented mandates and new taxes, fees, fines and penalties. Central planning and coercion holds this sprawling thing together.” ObamaCare: It’s all about control

Miscalculation. “So support for the Syrian jihad remains unaffected by the shutdown, just like the Capitol Hill gym and Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” website. Obama did manage, however, to cut off death benefits for the families of American troops killed fighting for our country. Or at least our conniving Alinsky-in-chief thought he’d succeeded in cutting off the military death benefits — along with forcible closures of war-hero cemeteries, national monuments, private homes, and the ocean.” Funding Jihadists while Denying Military Benefits

We’ve got a terrific line up for our annual Christmas program. First up will be the Ignite Barbershop Quartet. Ignite began singing together after a quartet matching party in November 2015. They are all Champion members of Region 21’s Scottsdale Chorus and they will be singing for us!

After lunch, Congressional District 6 congressman, Representative David Schweikart, will talk to us about what’s happening in Washington DC, and provide us with a status of the Tax Bill working its way through the House of Representatives and Senate.

Finally, member Julia Graham will install our new 2018/2019 officers. We look forward to seeing you and be sure to bring a friend or two or three!